I went to Becky's yesterday to quilt on the long-arm. It's going to be my last day of quilting. I'll still do shop samples, but no more working in the shop - have to take "family" time now. :) Tonight we go to Prepared Childbirth classes - we've fondly dubbed it "Baby School". The class runs from 7-9 our time several Mondays in a row. We have to take pillows and snacks - it sounds just like daycare! LOL. I'll let you know how it goes. We got snow last night and this morning. LOTS of snow - it's covering everything and it looks very much like a winter wonderland around here. I borrowed some movies from a friend, moved the dining room table into the living room and have been doing my sewing out there. Much better than being cooped up in my sewing room. :)
I went to Spokane today. Cleared out my craft booth (they're closing down), made a deposit at the bank, ate Indian food (yum! Got some "to go", too <g>.), and stopped at Petco for cat food. While there, I bought a guinea pig!! She's a cute little chocolate brown sweetheart that's about 2 months old. Her name's Ethel. I don't have a pic up of her yet, but if you want to see a little pic on Mike's site, click here. By the time I got home I was mildly dehydrated (was bad and didn't drink water all day) and had a headache. I'm better now, and Ethel is being VERY still inside her very large cage. I think she's still getting acclimatized.
I took the Christmas tree down today. Yes, it's long overdue - sue me. I was too tired to do it before, and in fact, it wiped me out. I'm going to take a nap because I'm cranky. When I wake up it'll probably be time to do chores and then I guess I'll make some frosting for the cake I made yesterday. Then I'll probably be tired again and will need another nap. Gosh, I'm just getting all kinds of stuff accomplished, huh? I did manage to get some clothes folded and put away, and to wash 2 more loads.. small steps.
Had my third ob. appointment today. You can read about it here, if you want. Then went to Becky's and sold all but 3 dozen of the eggs we've got. Then came home, did chores, and we're now settling into our evening routine. Mike's working on an article for H2G2 at present and I'm getting ready to go downstairs and continue working on a quilt. Ain't life grand??
LB is doing one of his/her/its (I may use the terms interchangeably - I have no idea what sex the baby is yet) first tricks - not sleeping, and not letting mommy sleep (it's currently 4:30AM - NOT my normal time of day). I haven't felt him kick yet, so I don't know if he's really moving and/or active right now - I only know I can't sleep. So, I'm doing MY newest trick - updating the website. I already played a game of spades (and won, woohooo!) so I've taken care of that little "chore".
I talked to my best friend in the whole world, Nancy, yesterday. She's also preggers, but she's 26 weeks (I'm 12 weeks today). Yesterday she went in for her second ultrasound and found that she's having a little girl. Well, they're 93% sure it's a little girl, anyway. They're naming her Megan Lea. I know I got the Lea part right; I think that's how they're spelling Megan. Anyway, I'm thrilled for her because a girl is what they really wanted. She's due in late April, so I can get a preview of what's coming 2 months ahead. LOL.
I did some more quilting yesterday. Nothing fancy - a nine-patch in VERY bright colors. Neons. This one is for WTIL. I'm hoping to finish it tomorrow and maybe even crank out a second quilt top. Who knows? I'll post a pic when it's done.
We got a little snow yesterday.. nothing to get all weepy over - just a light dusting. It sure is cute to come out in the morning and see little kitty prints everywhere. OK, Mike's the one who gets to see the really unadulterated kitty prints (he's out with the dogs long before me) but some of them are still there when I stumble into the light.
I'm feeling much better today. More energy, more of an appetite, and no nausea to speak of (knock on wood). Today I've already done a load of dishes, a load of laundry, and about 45 minutes worth of sewing. I've eaten two reasonable meals and am hungry again (don't worry - I eat small amounts) so I think I'll go put some more laundry in, unload the sink, wash some more dishes, and get a snack before I do MORE sewing. :) Gosh, this feels good, being normal again! lol
If you haven't heard already, this may come as somewhat of a surprise to you.
Last night I went to the guild meeting. It was pretty fun, and we got 2 new members. We talked about the quilt show we're going to have here in September, as well as one we're going to have a booth at in March. All very exciting (hey, we're in the sticks!). I got to town very early to run my errands before everything closed at 5 (the meeting was at 7) so I spent some time at the Top Notch Cafe having dinner (lasagna and garlic bread, followed by a hot fudge sundae, yum!). While there, Jim (one of the owners) asked if I'd like to help make costumes for a Scottish/Celtic play the town is putting on. I was flattered, and of course I said yes. How hard can it be to make a bunch of kilts?
Still doing a little quilting here and there. Nothing major to report (besides, my current project is a bit of a surprise for a friend, so I have to keep it hush-hush) but I'll let you know when there is. I still need to update my pictures but that will wait until I'm more in the mood. Besides, I doubt anyone ever looks at them anyway! lol.
Two diary entries in a row, woohoooo!! Well, there's an update on the Bank One fiasco. This morning I got a call from the girl I spoke to last night (the one who said I needed to fax in my cancellation letter first) - Dwalla. She said she didn't receive the letter (sigh) and to refax it, attention to her. So I did. No word from them as of yet.
Last night I got bored, so I decided to do a puzzle (Mike's idea - a good one!) so now I'm about halfway done with a 500-piece'r of the Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Real purty.
I have to run now, I have a meeting at the guild and I have a few errands to run first (including the bank and hardware store).
Well, it's a new year, a new decade, but I reFUSE to call it a new Mill---. As my DMIL says, "don't you think it sounds like a naughty word? after hearing it so often." And YES, I do. Especially since technically it's not really, so you WON'T see that word on THIS webpage, even when it IS the new Mill---.
That said, this site is now officially over a year old. It's almost a toddler! Yay! I know I haven't been keeping it up-to-date as much as I should, but life seems to keep interfering. Well.. life and spades. I'm now addicted to spades. I play several times a day, and have a pretty fair rating. I'm starting to grow a little bored with it, though, so maybe I'll get more done around here. LOL.
OK, ranting time. If you don't want to hear it, just stop reading now. I HATE BANK ONE. They are the most incompetent, lousy, unprofessional, disorganized, annoying IMPENETRABLE organization on the face of this earth. And that's saying something!! Governmental red tape has got NOTHING on Bank One's loan department. The details: over a year and a half ago, I took out a boat loan for $10,000. The loan was through Bank One, who was also my banking establishment at the time. Securing the loan took ALL of 30 minutes. Since I had a checking account at the same bank, I decided to have my payments taken out by direct withdrawal. The payments are well under $200 so it wasn't a problem. When I got divorced (yes, I was married "before"), I switched accounts and had them switch the debits to that account. NO PROBLEM.
Now that we live in Washington and don't have a Bank One for MILES around and I'm no longer getting regular paychecks deposited to that account, it's quite the hassle to keep enough money in that account to cover the payments. Not to mention Bank One has this LOVELY policy of charging you $10 every month if your bank account balance is below $600. Thus, my payments have effectively increased by $10. Not their fault, I know, but still - this is MY point of view.
So back in October I called them (after getting my first NSF notice to pay) to tell them I wanted to be switched to a payment book instead of debits. The girl I spoke with took down my information and said No problem; one would be arriving within 5-7 days and then I would need to fax a notice of cancellation of debit to the bank. I got the fax number and everything was supposedly taken care of. I even got (and miraculously held onto) a confirmation number. I went ahead and sent some more money down to the account in Dallas to cover the payment that would come up in November. Well, I didn't think any more of it (the holidays came, sheesh!) until about December 1st. I noticed I still didn't have my coupon book, so I called. They said they had no record of my having requested the coupon book (!!!) so I gave them the confirmation number. "Oh, there it is! Says it was sent out." Well, I didn't get it. So I told them to put another request through. Then she tells me the address on file was wrong (which was bogus, because the NSF notice had come to the right address) and that's why I didn't receive the coupon book. So I got the confirmation number for the second order, and wrote it down.
Thought about it no more until the other day, when I got another NSF notice to pay, this time for the January payment. I was LIVID, because every time this happens I get a $25 hit from Bank One for NSF charges ON TOP OF the $15 the loan department charges for NSF fees. So I called again and spoke to the absolute worst "customer service" person ever.. she interrupted me when I was trying to explain the history of this account, she refused to let me speak to her supervisor (after going back and forth with her for 25 minutes), and basically she told me it took 45 days for a coupon book to be sent out. I asked, "Ok, so I should get it in 5 days, right?" "No ma'am, that's 45 BUSINESS days." I lost it. I told her I had nothing further to say to her and I needed to speak to her manager/supervisor because that answer just was NOT acceptable. The b*tch put me back through to the automated line I called in the first place. After KICKING myself for not getting her name and calling Bank One every name in the book (and some in the yet-to-be-released edition) I got another operator. My first question was, "Can you tell by looking at my account who the last operator I spoke to was?" Of course, she said No. UGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHH. Anyway, SHE was much more professional, told me the 5-7 day turnaround time again that I had heard back in October, and said that since I had gone through so much angst she would have a coupon book over-nighted to me. I asked if there were a confirmation number I could refer to (she said no) and I hung up, thinking "What choice do I have?"
I faxed a letter over canceling the debit, and tried to forget about it. The next morning, someone left a message from Bank One. The phone number she left wouldn't allow me to punch in the extension she left, so I had to go through 4 Bank One operators in 3 states just to figure out who she was. Of course, she was on the phone, so a message was left for her to call me back. God performed one of His MIRACLES, and she actually called back. She told me that she had received my request for a coupon book but that she couldn't process it until she had received my notice of cancellation on the debit. I tried to be calm, but I'm sure you can imagine it was all I could do not to rip the phone out of the wall that this point. I told her that was the FIRST time I had heard that, but no matter because I faxed the cancellation notice the day before. She said they didn't get it. <GGGGGGGROANNNNNNNN> I said where should I fax it to so that SHE would get it. She gave me a number.. I told her if she went to the fax machine, it would magically show up there as soon as I got off the phone with her. I asked how long it would take for the coupon book to show up NOW and she said "about a week". Seems I've heard that one before.
I'll let you know what happens.
